BC Bulletin

Eagles Clinch Three Seed in Women’s Hockey East Tournament With Win Over UNH

A pair of goals by Emma Conner highlight a dominant win for Boston College, as the Eagles down New Hampshire 5-2.
Chris Vogel|
Boston College Women's Hockey (BC_WHockey) via X

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass - After a season marred by an inability to string together quality performances night to night, Boston College finally managed to play its best two-game stretch of the season and appears to be peaking at the right time.

Following a disappointing overtime loss to Providence one week ago at home, the possibility of a road trip to open the Hockey East Tournament suddenly seemed like a realistic possibility as New Hampshire inched closer fourth place in the standings. Following the setback, Boston College responded with an upset win over No. 5 Northeastern on the back off Grace Campbell’s shutout before dominating New Hampshire in all three periods this afternoon. The Eagles outshot the Wildcats 51-27 on their way to a 5-2 wire-to-wire victory in the team’s penultimate regular season game. 

Just over midway through period one, Olivia Maffeo put the Eagles on the board first 1-0 as she crashed the net and was able to poke the puck by Noemi Martinez. Lauren Glaser entered the zone on a partial rush before sending a pass across to Emma Conner. As Conner backhanded the puck towards the crease, Maffeo was able to deflect it towards the net, being denied the initial attempt before putting home the follow up.

Less than three minutes later, Emma Conner doubled the Eagle advantage 2-0 with a one timer. Maxim Tremblay entered on the right side with speed and patiently waited for a passing lane to open before setting up Conner’s second point of the afternoon.

In the closing minutes of the opening frame, Alanna Dunn was sent to the sin bin for a cross check, giving New Hampshire an opportunity to pull themselves back into the game. With 38 seconds remaining on the powerplay, Josie Linn circled right to left through the offensive zone before sending the puck past a screened Grace Campbell to cut the deficit in half 2-1.

After a chaotic sequence that left just seven skaters, four Eagles and three Wildcats on the ice, Sammy Taber restored the two-goal lead 3-1 just ten seconds into the four-on-three. Moments before the goal, it seemed Boston College’s powerplay would come to an unsuccessful end as Emma Conner was whistled for a trip during the woman-up opportunity. After the call, Boston College head coach Katie Crowley immediately challenged for a hit to the head prior to the trip and after reviewing a major penalty was assessed to New Hampshire’s Sadie Makokis. 

After winning a defensive zone draw, the Eagles wasted no time racing down ice, as Olivia Maffeo, Ava Thomas, and Sammy Taber entered the zone on a three-on-two rush. Maffeo snapped a pass between a pair of Wildcats, setting up Taber for the Eagles’ third goal of the game.

Once again trailing by a pair of goals, New Hampshire’s Alyson Hush raced out of her own zone, through traffic and towards the Eagles’ net. Before the senior could get a shot off, Kiera Dempsey knocked it loose towards the end boards. After the deflection, Nina Rossi found the puck and enough space to get a shot off, sending it bar down for her 13th goal of the season. 

After once again seeing her team’s lead trimmed to just one, Emma Conner found the back of the net for her second of the game to help seal the result. With just under six minutes remaining in regulation, Ava Thomas slid the puck towards the blue line for Olivia Maffeo. The sophomore fired the shot towards Martinez who got a blocker in the way but was unable to control the rebound as it popped straight up in the air. Seeing the puck come free, Conner positioned herself perfectly to take a baseball swing at the puck midair and connected perfectly to send it home. Lauren Glaser would add an empty netter two minutes later to secure the 5-2 win.

With the win, Boston College improved to 15-17-1 overall and 13-9-1 in Hockey East play. New Hampshire dipped below .500 in conference action, falling to 10-11-1 in conference action and 16-14-3 across all games. 

The Eagles will complete the regular season slate with a matchup against crosstown rival Boston University on Saturday Feb. 20. The game will serve as Boston College’s Senior Day. Boston College will await results elsewhere to determine its quarterfinal opponent as the Eagles will host the six seed on Saturday Feb. 28. Potential opponents for the game are Maine, who currently sit in sixth place, New Hampshire, Vermont, Providence, and Boston University.

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Chris Vogel
CHRIS VOGEL

Chris Vogel has spent the last five years in sports media; including as a play-by-play broadcaster for ACC Network Extra and Hockey East on ESPN. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and in his final year as a graduate student at Boston College, where he serves as the radio voice of Boston College Women’s Hockey on WZBC 90.3; the flagship radio network of Boston College Women’s Athletics. He’s the host of the “All Things Hockey” podcast, and cover women’s college hockey for College Hockey On SI.

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